Disclaimer: Escaflowne does not belong to me.
Escaflowne of Arabia
Prologue
"The construction's going along smoothly," Van's new advisor, Kahir, told him. "We should be finished within the next two moons."
"That's nice," Van said, distractedly. "Where's Merle?"
"Who?" Kahir asked. "Oh, right. That girl." He made a face. Kahir was not one to judge someone by looks alone, rather on disposition and intellect. However, for Merle, he made an exception. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was cats. Not only that, he was terrible allergic to them. "She's around here somewhere."
"Lord Van!" Merle burst in the throne room.
Kahir sneezed. "Like I said."
"They're here!" Merle said excitedly.
"Finally! What took them so long?"
"I don't know, but you'd better not ask them about it," Merle replied. "They seem to be in a bad mood."
"Well, let's go see them." Van stood up. "Coming, Kahir?"
"Ah- ah-choo!" He shook his head. "I don't think so."
Van shrugged. "Whatever."
They went out to the gardens, not far from where Folken's tomb was located. There were already green sprouts coming out of the ground.
Merle and Van took no notice of this as they went to meet their guests. Standing outside of their carriage were Millerna and Dryden. They looked as if they had an argument. But they tried their best to look pleasant, well, at least Millerna did.
"Hello," she said in what was supposed to be a cheerful voice. Dryden merely grunted in greeting.
"Come in. Where are Allen and Serena?" Van asked.
"We're right here." Serena and Allen popped out from behind the horses.
"What are you doing there?" Merle raised her eyebrow at them.
"It's the safest place there is," Allen muttered.
"What he means is," Serena explained, "we've been trying to stay away from those two."
"What's going on?" Van was unable to contain his curiosity any longer.
"They've been fighting the whole trip," Allen replied. "They'd still be fighting if they were speaking to each other."
"We haven't been fighting." Millerna glared at Dryden. "Someone was being unreasonable."
Dryden snorted. "I've been unreasonable? We're not even married anymore, and she's nagging me."
"Nagging?" Millerna said angrily. "I haven't been nagging. I've been asking nice and politely and reasonably. And you still refuse."
"Exactly! Give up!"
"Take her where?"
He scowled. "I'm going on a trip to a desert country. And she insists on going with me."
"I'm doing this for us! If we're going to get married again, I think we should spend some time together first."
"That sounds reasonable to me," Serena commented.
"See?" Millerna gloated.
"You're still not going. It's for your own good. It's going to be a long journey and it's going to be hot and dry and…"
"You think I can't handle that?" she exploded. "I've seen a war. I've treated people with blood and guts and all that. I think I can hand heat!" The others had never seen Millerna this angry.
"I have an idea," Van suggested, "why don't we all go together?"
"Yes, very good idea," Dryden said hurriedly. "Wait a second. What? Are you crazy?"
"No. I think it'd be good for all of us. Kahir can take care of Fanelia."
"I agree with Lord Van," Merle said. "We could all use a break."
"Me, too," Serena put it. "What do you think, Allen?"
"I don't know," he replied. "All of us? Together? That doesn't seem like a good idea to me."
"Oh, come on," Van persuaded, "I really could use this. It'll be fun."
"I'm not sure."
"Oh, enjoy yourself for a change. You've been spending too much time with my sister. Please?" Millerna pleaded.
"All right," he agreed.
"Hey, wait, don't I get a say in this?" Dryden asked. "It's my trip."
"Did you say something?" Millerna asked innocently.
"Never mind."
"It's unanimous then," Van said. "We're going."
"Yeah!" The girls cheered. They all began to talk excitedly.
Dryden sighed. "Why did I open my mouth?"